


Top Drop

by satan_copilots_my_tardis



Series: Aftercare [6]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Anal Fingering, BDSM, Dom/sub, Flogging, M/M, Oral Sex, oh god even more feelings, top dropping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:13:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24361138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satan_copilots_my_tardis/pseuds/satan_copilots_my_tardis
Summary: Top Drop: Similar to sub dropping, this is feelings of guilt, depression, doubt, worthlessness, and other negative emotions that can appear/be enhanced after a scene.Deceit is not a part of this relationship. Not really. He's only here because it's his job. He knows this. And they don't need him anymore.
Relationships: Logic | Logan Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Series: Aftercare [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1006617
Comments: 7
Kudos: 152





	Top Drop

**Author's Note:**

> Heeyyy, it's been a hot minute. So I feel like it kind of goes without saying at this point that this series does not acknowledge canon after Crofters-The Musical, but just wanted to be clear. No Remus, Deceit is not named yet, etc. Also as always please do your own research about BDSM, aftercare, and the after-effects of scening. This story does not fully encompass what it is like to top drop, as it's just a narrative framing device, but it is just as serious as sub dropping and all my doms out there please be safe. Anywhoo, this one is light on porn and heavy on feels so good luck y'all.

Thomas tries to make him feel welcome. He does, he really honestly tries, but Deceit isn’t welcome. He hasn’t even been given a name yet. But their host invites him to the usual get togethers, calls him up for his advice when he’s rehearsing, makes excuses to see him more. And Deceit appreciates the effort, he does, but it’s not real. Thomas is forcing the interaction and it’s only making it harder for him to mesh as a known part of themself. 

Though for their part, the other sides aren’t giving him too much trouble. Logan and Patton obviously not protesting his company and Roman warming up to him slowly. He suspects that Virgil had something to do with that and it almost surprises him. He and Virgil have not been on the best of terms since the whole ‘impersonating Patton and manipulating Roman’ thing. But it's been a few months and perhaps he’s cooled off. And as far as Roman’s attitude goes Deceit suspects Virgil had reminded his lover how he’d felt when the others had treated him like an outsider and that the memory would likely be enough to get Roman to engage with him. 

Thomas pushes away from the table with a wide fake smile as he invites all of them to stay summoned for dinner. Fake because he is desperately trying to convince Deceit that he really, truly, wants him to stick around with the others. He smiles in response and tells him that he has other business to attend to and gently touches Patton’s arm as he stands to sink down. It’s an obvious lie, but they’ll all have more fun without him around anyway. 

“We’ll miss you.” Patton says easily. 

“The sentiment is greatly appreciated.” He responds theatrically. But Logan is deliberately not looking in his direction, as if he can hide the tiny frown playing around the edge of his lips. Well, perhaps some of the others will miss him. If only a bit.  


Deceit pushes those thoughts away. He’s the master of lies after all, how can he resist lying to himself a little?

* * *

He goes to Logan’s room that night, makes up for his absence at dinner by pushing him into the bed and stealing the air from his lungs. By the time they’re done Logan is going to have to be very careful to keep his collar over the finger shaped bruises blossoming across his throat for the next few days. 

“I love you.” He hears Logan murmur the words against his chest and it reverberates through his skin. His entire torso constricts so tightly he wonders if his ribs are collapsing under the force of the vibrations. Deceit presses his lips into a tight line. There’s a danger in opening his mouth now. He might speak. Or worse he might taste the air caught between them. As Logan’s breathing evens out and he relaxes in his arms Deceit has almost convinced himself that if he’d tasted metal and fruit he wouldn’t have been bothered. 

* * *

“You okay?” Patton asks. They’re sitting in his room, both reading by the hearth, a tray of hot chocolate set out between them. It’s more domestic than Deceit would prefer, but it beats hanging out in his room alone until Thomas is finished with Logan.   


His immediate reaction is to lie but he doesn’t know the truth. It throws him off his rhythm. He’s supposed to be the one with all the answers. “Why do you ask?” He settles for instead. Maybe he can get a hint.   


Patton shrugs, not looking up from his book. “You haven’t been sticking your tongue out as much.”  


Oh. That. “I don’t know what you smell like.” He aims for sarcasm and almost gags on the truth when he misses by a wide margin. Shit. Deceit’s eyes dart over to the other. 

“As long as nothing’s wrong. I thought you might have bit your tongue or something.” Patton doesn’t press any further. 

Doesn’t make any indication that he’d recognized that Deceit had been telling the truth when he’d so wanted to lie. “If you want a closer look at my tongue you could come over here.” It’s a bad pick up line but it finally gets Patton to look over at him. His bright blue eyes crinkle at the corners with fondness and his smile is infectious. 

“Well if you’re hurt I would be happy to offer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.” 

He rolls his eyes and puts his book aside, just in time for Patton to climb onto his lap. He chases the warm lingering notes of chocolate on the other’s lips and tries not to think about how hard it’s becoming to keep track of the truth when he’s around his partners.

* * *

Logan comes back to find them, Patton’s hands tied to the bed, ass raised and covered with stark red lashes, Deceit knuckle deep inside him and working him over with the patience of a saint. To his credit the other facet hardly blinks, just closes the door firmly behind himself and starts pulling off his own clothes as he makes his way over to the bed. 

“I take it you two have been keeping yourself occupied.” 

Patton moans as Deceit crooks his fingers.

“Lo, yeah, we’ve found a way to fill the time.”

“Yeah, Logan, you’ve barely missed a beat.” He adds, picking up the switch with one hand and bringing it across half of Patton’s ass. The other bucks back into his fingers, head dipping low to the bed as he moans. 

“I thought we agreed no dad jokes in bed.” 

“Get in here then.” Deceit challenges. 

Logan doesn’t need further prompting, reaching for him first and dragging him into a filthy kiss. He can’t taste anything but desire on the other’s lips and it relaxes him further. No hard feelings for not responding to his little declaration from the other night, then. Patton whines between them and Deceit pulls away with a soft huff. 

“So impatient. I don’t know if you deserve to be fucked.” 

“No, it’s my fault.” Logan says, rolling his eyes.He drops a kiss to the back of Patton’s neck. “I distracted you. Don’t keep him waiting.” 

“What about you?”

“Is my collar still in your room?”

Deceit’s mouth goes dry and when his fingers stutter to a stop of his own accord Patton doesn’t even protest. Instead he forces himself up on his elbows and cranes his neck to look at their other partner. “Not anymore.” He waves his hand and the length of leather and chain is pulled from the air, landing heavily against his unoccupied palm. 

“Set it up and I’ll watch until you two are finished.” Logan suggests. “And we’ll see what happens after that.” 

“Can we move so I can see?” Patton asks on his next breath. 

“Fuck, I am a terrible influence on the two of you.” It’s more truthful of a statement than he’d like for it to be, but he doesn’t think either of the others notice. “Alright, here.” He sets the collar aside, summons a thick black plug and Logan reaches for the bottle of lube without prompting. He spreads the liquid over the silicone as Deceit pulls his fingers from Patton’s warm body, his hole twitching as they slip free. Logan moves closer then, one hand kneading the abused flesh of Patton’s ass while the other starts to press the plug into his body. Deceit watches, almost breathless with arousal, not usually getting the chance to see the two of them together. It’s not often that all of their needs align at the same time. 

This will be fun.

* * *

‘Fun’ is perhaps a bit of an understatement. Because fucking Patton as he sucks Logan off, the other side desperately doing his best not to move so he doesn’t choke himself on the collar looped over the bedframe, turns out to be an excellent time. And by the time they’ve all collapsed together in a sweaty exhausted heap he’s nearly forgotten about his slip earlier. He carefully disentangles himself from Patton’s needy reach, snapping his fingers and undoing Logan’s chains before he pushes himself out of the bed. 

“Get back here.” But the words are light and sleepy and he gently pushes Patton’s hand off of his arm as he moves away. “Deeeeee.”

“You two need to get cleaned up.” He says just as easily. And he needs to put something on the welts on Patton’s skin and check that Logan didn’t hurt his throat too badly. 

“It can wait a minute.” Logan’s voice is even more raw than Patton’s as he too reaches out to try and catch Deceit’s wrist. But his words are so soft and warm. Open the same way he’d been the other--

“You should know better than anyone how important sufficient aftercare is, Logan.” The chastising tone and pointed glance at their third makes Logan release his wrist as if he’d been burned. And Patton flinches slightly, eyes dropping to the tangled sheets. 

Neither of them protest further as he cleans them up, gets them something to drink, and once they’re put back together as best as he can manage, he gives them both a final kiss before excusing himself back to his room. He tries desperately not to feel the shape of their lies as they try to hide their hurt. 

* * *

Things are off after that. He still spends time with them but he finds it harder and harder to spend time with them one-on-one. They’re always together now it seems. And perhaps he should have been expecting that. They were inseparable when the two of them had originally begun dating. It was only as their lies built up and drove a wedge between them that he’d had opportunity and reason to spend time with them alone. It stands to reason as they manage to break those walls back down and be honest with themselves and each other that they would go back to the way things were. 

‘ _I love you,_ ’ His mouth is full of the taste of sulfur as he hates how that whispered statement lingers in the back of his mind.   
He should have said something, should have tasted the air and picked apart the lie Logan was telling both of them. But he hadn’t. He’d let himself ignore his job and for what? So he could linger in his and Patton’s space? Because that’s the reality isn’t it? Once they’re better, once they can stop lying to themselves and regulate their needs themselves, then things will go back to the way they were. They won’t need him anymore. 

And that was the point. When this started. Deceit lets the frustration wash through him, lets it burn out in his veins until he can breathe easy again. Because that had been the point. He was there to help them. It was his job. He is doing this all to make sure that they can function healthily and without hurting themselves when things inevitably get to be too much as they are always want to do. 

And the reality is they’re at that point. Perhaps they have been for a while now. They don’t need him anymore and he can’t ignore that. He can’t let them start lying to themselves and him about their feelings just so he can enjoy being in their beds a while longer. He nearly snorts, that would be rather _unethical_ wouldn’t it? He needs to break this off. 

He ignores how his whole room tastes like sulfur by the time he’s come to this conclusion. 

* * *

He knocks on Logan’s door and waits a second before it opens. The other side relaxes visibly when he sees him. 

“Deceit,” 

“Dee!” He hears Patton’s cheerful exclamation from deeper in the room. 

“Oh good, I have something I wanted to talk with you both about.” 

Logan blinks at him, “Oh, of course, come in.” 

Patton waves at him from where he’s sitting on Logan’s bed, a pile of manila folders laid out in front of him for review. “What’s up?” 

“I didn’t mean to interrupt your work, but this shouldn’t take too long.” But now that he’s here he’s not sure quite how to start. “You two have grown much more honest with yourselves recently.” 

“Yes well, we have you to thank for that.” Logan replies slowly, eyes starting to narrow behind his glasses. 

“And it has been my absolute displeasure to assist you. But this growth is evidence that the two of you no longer need so much of my direct oversight in order to stay on an even keel.” 

The other two facets share a look before Patton straightens up. “Okay, yeah, that’s great. We’ve been thinking the same thing.” 

Deceit isn’t sure what to make of the hot wave of pain that pulses behind his ribs with that statement. “Delightful.” But there’s too much venom in the word. “Then I’m sure that you understand that there is no further need to keep up this arrangement. I’ll be going back to working in the background and you two can go back to the way things were before, but with less lying to yourselves I hope.”

“Wait what?” Patton starts to stand up and Deceit takes half a step back. “We, that’s not what--”

“Deceit, Patton and I do not see you as a means to an end.” Logan says shortly. “You are our partner. We want you to remain that, but moving forward not have you feel as though you have to take care of us at all times.” 

He is quiet for a moment. Then he tries to scent the air, tastes for burnt sugar, metal and fruit, but sulfur overwhelms his tongue. And to fill the sudden beat of silence he lets out a harsh bitter cackle. “Oh Logan, don’t lie to yourself now. It certainly is not going to make me stay.” But he finds once he starts speaking again he can’t stop, the hot angry heat spilling out from his lips. “You knew going into this that my involvement was a service, an extension of my job. This was never about those messy complicated feelings that you so love. I was a necessary evil. And now I’ve served my purpose. This was not a relationship, I’m not your lover,” he turns on Patton and hisses, “or your _boyfriend_. And no matter how desperately you try to lie to yourselves about your feelings I won’t let you.” The fabric of his gloves is the only thing keeping his nails from pressing bloody crescents into the skin of his clenched fists. “You don’t love me. Most of the time you don’t know what to think of me. And trying to delude yourselves into thinking this is love or affection just so you can fit this whole arrangement into a neat little box is irresponsible at best and damaging all of my hard work at worst.”

“Deceit that’s not--”

“Do you think we’re stupid?” Logan cuts off the other with such vitriol that they both flinch. 

“Lo,” 

“No, Patton I want to know.” He turns back to him. “Do you think we’re stupid?”

“Another lie Logan?” Deceit sneers. “Be honest, you don’t want to know what any of us really think of you.” 

But the other facet continues as if he hasn’t spoken. “Because you must think we are if you think for a second we don’t understand how this all started. As if we cannot understand how these feelings came about and grew and don’t have the emotional intelligence to understand and articulate how we want them to shape what happens between the three of us moving forward.” Logan moves into his space, jamming a finger into his chest. “And if you don’t want that then that’s fine! But do not, for a second, act as if this is our fault or as if we’re some ignorant children that you need to take in hand before things go too far.” 

“Logan!” Patton grabs his arm and pulls him away, pushing between the two of them. Logan backs off, still fuming, as Patton turns his full attention to Deceit. “I’m sorry we didn’t talk to you about this sooner. We should have been paying attention and checked if this was something that you wanted, and we should have stopped if it wasn’t. We put too much on you and that wasn’t fair. But we’re not lying to you, Dee.” And his eyes are so big and blue and earnest and Deceit can’t look at him. “You’ve been taking care of us for so long, and we appreciate that. Just because you don’t need to anymore doesn’t mean we don’t still want you with us.” He reaches out for one of his clenches fists and Deceit takes another step back. 

“Such pretty words Patton, keep that up and you can take my place as the snake in the garden.”

The other winces. “Deceit, please, we’re not lying--” 

“Well you’re certainly not telling the truth either!” Because he can always track the thread of truth. And in this conversation with so much, too many half-lies and so many conflicting feelings and the intolerable reek of sulfur, he doesn’t know where it is. He has to finish this, has to get things back under control. “And regardless of whatever this delusion of us three being together is to you, it is not reality. You two are better. My job is done. I hope my service was satisfactory.” He turns on his heel and storms through the door before they can call him back, reaching deep inside of Thomas for the last lingering threads of power he had before his unmasking, and turning invisible for the first time in months. 

* * *

No one really bothers him for a few weeks. A white lie here or there and even Thomas seems to have gotten the memo to leave him alone because when the others are summoned for planning and filming he is once again left out. And maybe there’s relief in that, for himself and for Thomas, but he tries not to think about that too hard. After all being left alone like this lets him do his job more efficiently. Especially now that his pet projects have been completed. He can focus on other things. Like Roman’s crippling self-doubt. That will be something to start on. Though he wonders how Virgil will take his meddling. 

It takes another few days before he finally, and reluctantly, decides he’s going to have to actually talk to the other dark side, if only to avoid the fallout that is doubtless to come if he tries to keep his new plans secret. 

And perhaps, some part of him hesitantly acknowledges, he just needs to spend time with another facet. 

* * *

He lifts his hand and knocks before he thinks about it too much. A rhythmic _tap-tap tap-tap_ like a heartbeat that he knows the other will recognize immediately. There’s a pause, a slight one, but then Virgil is calling for him to, 

“Come in,” and Deceit is pushing the door open and stepping inside easily. The shadows come for him, restless and uncomfortable, but it’s a familiar sensation and he can shake it off like he does the nostalgia glow of Patton’s quarters. Virgil is on his bed, pushing himself up to lean back against his pillows with his legs outstretched. 

He opens his mouth. He came here for a reason. But the shadows cling to his skin and he realizes how long it’s been since he was in this room and how different things are now from when he had his arrangement with Virgil and--

It’s been a long time, but the other side doesn’t protest as Deceit climbs onto the bed and lays down, resting his head just above Virgil’s knees and staring up at the ceiling. Neither of them speak for a few long moments. Then Virgil fully removes his hat that’s barely still sitting on his head and he starts to run his fingers through his hair. Deceit feels a quiet hum of fear, shaped mostly like concern, start to buzz through him, but that too is familiar. 

“We haven’t done this in a while.” Virgil says lightly. Deceit tries to taste a lie, uncertainty, nervousness, anything, but all he gets is the molasses richness of his truth. 

“Sorry.” He’s not sure if he’s apologizing for the distance they’ve been putting between each other or that he’d intruded and asked for this, but either way Virgil just hums. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. He tries to get back on track. “How are things with Roman?” 

It gets a smile, small and sincere, out of him. “Good. Better since you started pushing him past his insecurities.”

Damn. Deceit clicks his tongue. “You weren’t supposed to notice that, yet.” 

“I appreciate it. I know you have your hands full.” Their conversation pitters off and Deceit’s eyes trace the unchanged patterns on the ceiling. This used to be normal. He and Virgil used to hang out like this all the time, before the videos, before Thomas could manifest them. Before the other’s accepted Virgil as a critical part of a flawed system. And then they had drifted. Because Virgil found his truth all on his own. He hadn’t needed him around to guide him anymore. Like Patton and Logan don’t need him. But Virgil had been his best friend for a long time. And he needs that again now.   
“I forgive you for manipulating Roman and impersonating Patton.” Virgil says a long while later. “I know I told you before,” months ago when Deceit had apologized. “But I haven’t seen you much since then, I wanted to make sure you believe me.”

“I know you’re not lying.” He responds. 

“So then why haven’t you come to see me lately? And what’s going on now that’s got you so worked up?” He tries to find the words and comes up short. Virgil’s hand stops moving in his hair. “Come on man. If you don’t tell me I’m going to start to worry. Did Thomas finally research more on snakes? Did you lie about something important? Are you starting to shed your human skin like you do your scales?” He prattles on in an almost mocking imitation of his nervous tone. 

“No, it’s about something a lot more complicated.” Deceit finally says, dragging his eyes away from the ceiling to finally look Virgil in the eye. 

“Okay. You know you can talk to me about anything.” 

He does, so they do. 

* * *

Virgil is rubbing his face. “D, you fucking _dropped_.” 

He frowns, sitting up a little. “What are you talking about?” 

“I cannot believe,” he mumbles. “You were on for five months? Scening with them at the drop of a hat with nearly no downtime and using your powers to help them nonstop, you’re exhausted.” 

“I was doing my job. I’m fine.” He says a little indignantly and half chokes on sulfur. 

Virgil gives him a flat look. “No you’re not. If you were you wouldn’t be here, feeling like this.” And well, Deceit has always been cruel with the others, yanking loose their truths and tearing away their defenses without hesitation. He supposes it serves him right when Virgil reaches out to touch the scales on the side of his face and the terror pulses hard through him. 

His chest goes too tight as the knots of his situation start to untangle. Fear of being left alone, anxiety over only being wanted while he was useful, terror of acknowledging the feelings he doesn’t know what to do with. How scared he’s been of not being able to give them what they need. Virgil doesn’t even flinch as he pulls them loose and sorts through them. 

“You dropped, and you’ve been lying to yourself about it.” He says flatly. “I thought you of all of us knew better than that?” 

“They were my responsibility. I had to take care of them” He doesn’t like the hoarse edge in his voice. “I couldn’t take them apart and then abandon them halfway through it.” 

Virgil takes one of his hands. “So putting them back together just to break their hearts was a better option?” 

“They aren’t in love with me.” And it hurts to say it again, because Virgil has cleared his head. And he knows now that this is the truth. 

“Okay, maybe that’s a little too much, but that doesn’t mean they don’t care about you. That they’re not open to spending more time with you and seeing how those feelings grow, D. You owe it to them and yourself to consider if you feel the same way and want to try.” When he doesn’t respond Virgil continues, “And trust that they can handle themselves when you need a break, and then actually take that time for yourself.”

“When exactly did we get to the point where you get to lecture me on self-care?”

“When you decided to completely ignore it and nuke your budding relationship instead of acknowledging that even you can't handle everything all the time.”

Deceit pushes his hands away. “Don’t look so smug,” he hisses, “This will never happen again.” 

“Good, I hope not.” Virgil pushes him off the bed unceremoniously. “Now go fix shit with them and D, if you make Patton cry I’m going to borrow Roman’s sword and run you through.” 

“Noted.” He says with as much dignity as he can from the floor, his cloak flipped half over his head. 

* * *

It’s still a few days before he ends up knocking on Patton’s door. There’s a long pause and for a moment Deceit is sure that they won’t let him back in. But then the moment passes and the door is opening, the sepia beam of light trying to soften the hurt edges under his skin. 

“Deceit, hey, it’s been a while.” He says with false cheer. 

He doesn’t acknowledge the pull on his powers. “Patton, is Logan here as well? I was hoping we could clear the air.”

“He’s here. But, um, can you give us a minute? I don’t know if he wants to talk to you.” It makes his chest ache, but the deliberateness, the active choice not to lie is good. 

“Of course.” The door shuts again and he waits. And waits. And waits. Five minutes later it opens again, Patton’s features looking even more strained than the first time. 

“Okay, come on in.” 

The room is unchanged and Logan is lingering by the fireplace looking unhappy. “Deceit.”

“Logan.” He straightens his spine. “Please accept my sincerest apologies for my outburst.”

“Oh, you don’t have to apologize, Dee--” Patton starts, reaching for his elbow. He shifts away from the touch and hates the stricken look the other facet gives him before his hand falls limply back to his side. “Oh, uh sorry.”

“I do owe you two an apology. The truth is that I have been overwhelmed and I lashed out at the two of you rather than acknowledge it. That wasn’t fair to you and I shouldn’t have done it. So I am sorry.” Some of the tension in Logan’s frame lessens. 

“Well, it’s certainly appreciated that you would come to talk about it.” 

“Yeah, apology accepted, it’s water under the bridge.” Logan sighs at Patton’s exclamation. 

“But just because what I said was harsh does not mean it was uncalled for.” He says. “The truth is that this started as an extension of my job. I was only made a part of your relationship to keep you stable. No matter how your opinions of me changed, if they did, during this time does not make that starting point any less relevant.” 

“And we never said it did, Deceit.” Logan says straightening up impossibly further as his expression goes dark. “We know what this started as. We appreciate your involvement and assistance in getting us to a healthier mental state, but that does not mean you have the right to dismiss and undermine our current feelings.” 

“Fine. But your current feelings are more complicated than you are acknowledging. You don’t love me.” He says, doing his best to keep his tone calm and even. “To assert otherwise is lying to yourself and me.” 

Logan grits his teeth. “Explain.”

“You don’t love me.” He notes and catalogs the pain in his chest. Acknowledges that perhaps the idea of being loved is appealing and the realization he is not hurts. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t have feelings towards me. They are complicated, unsure, and new. And I shouldn’t have acted like they don’t exist. But acting as if they’re the same as love, the love you feel towards each other is equally cruel.” 

“Hey now,” Patton reaches out and grabs his arm before he can pull away again. “We never meant to imply it was the same. You’re right.” He doesn’t sound entirely sure of that as he glances between Logan and him. “Our feelings are more complicated than maybe we wanted to talk about, and how we feel towards you is different. But feelings are hard to put into words. We were doing our best to express them to you in a way that we could all understand. If it came off as dishonest then that was an honest mistake, Dee. We weren’t trying to hurt you.” 

He opens his mouth and for the first time in a while, scents the air. But there are no lies. No sugar or blood or fruit. No sulfur in the back of his throat clogging it all up. They all stand in silence for a moment. “So what do we do from here?” 

“We don’t need you to take care of us the same way you have been.” Logan says, straightening his glasses. “That arrangement is clearly not working for any of us anymore and it seems to have been putting more of a strain on you than either of us realized.” 

“But that doesn’t mean we don’t want you around.” Patton adds. “Our feelings are complicated but I,” he glances back at Logan and gets a slight incline of his head, “we want to work through those with you. If you want that too.” 

He doesn’t say anything for a minute. “I am not made for traditional relationships.”

“What about our previous association makes you think we would expect that?” Logan says a little sharply. “We aren’t asking you for that. I am sure that you will have your own agendas and need to perform your function for Thomas and the others in similarly abstract ways as you did for Patton and I. We understand that. We are asking if you are interested in pursuing a continued sexual and emotional relationship with us with the understanding that we may continue to develop romantic feelings towards you.” He pauses. “And trust that we can maturely and responsibly talk about our limits, needs, and expectations like adults.” 

“Can I? Trust you to do that?” And he doesn’t like how soft his voice is when he asks. 

Patton shifts his grip, slipping down his arm to tangle their fingers together and squeeze tight. “We’ll do our best, and if it ever gets to be too much for you or if you tell us you need something different we’ll listen. And if this can’t work for all of us then we shouldn’t be doing it at all.” 

There’s another beat of quiet and then Deceit squeezes his hand back. “Alright.”

Patton’s expression brightens. “Yeah?” 

“Yes, now come here. I’ve missed how you two taste.” 

* * *

They don’t scene. He doesn’t push their limits and they don’t fall apart on him. And by the time they’re done both of the other facets are curled tight around him, not letting him go. It’s different and he still doesn’t know exactly what to do with the honest affection. But that’s okay. He doesn’t have to know everything at all times. He just has to acknowledge that Patton and Logan, and all of the rest, are doing their best right now to be responsible with their truths. And as long as he is trying his best to help them while acknowledging his own needs and limitations then they will still want him around. He will still be a part of this whole. 

As Logan’s arms tighten around his waist and Patton hair tickles his chin he thinks he even feels the shape of a name starting to form in the back of his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is it for Lodecality's story in this universe. I don't imagine they ever become an exclusive triad, but they do have a stable, trusting, relationship in the end. Thank you all for the lovely comments and the kudos over the past few years. I may be coming back to this universe to explore Deceit with Roman and Virgil as well if time permits and there's interest (he's my fandom bicycle and everyone gets a ride.) But for now this is it, hope you enjoyed.


End file.
